Read More

And they claim this is affecting the work-life balance of drivers, as well as creating major health and safety concerns.

Unite regional officer Wendy Dunsmore said: “Our driver members at Stagecoach already work hard to make sure that people across the west of Scotland can get to where they need to go.

"They deserve a decent working life, which allows them to have proper rest and proper time with their families."

She added: “The shifts and rotas that Stagecoach wants to impose are completely unacceptable. We have real concerns that they will put our members and other road users at risk. No reasonable transport company would put profit over safety, but we believe that’s what’s happening here.

“Having a rest break of two to three hours in the middle of a shift will massively lengthen the drivers’ working day, and our fear is that it will leave them exhausted at the wheel. How is someone supposed to get proper rest when they are still effectively at work?

“Our members are angry – and they want to make the travelling public and other road users aware of what Stagecoach is trying to do.

"No union member moves to an official ballot for industrial action without a lot of heart-searching, but these drivers feel they are simply not being listened to.”